How to Sell and Advertise on Amazon?

Learn how to advertise your shop on Amazon, and start running your online dropshipping business with Oberlo, today! It’s free!

How to Advertise on Amazon: Amazon Marketing Guide For Beginners

As the largest online retailer on the globe, Amazon is one of the most well known virtual marketplaces to utilize the dropshipping model. The platform relies on third party suppliers for inventory, and while transactions are carried out between Amazon and the customer, orders are shipped directly from the suppliers. What began as an online bookstore quickly blossomed into a sphere where everything from clothes and jewelry to pet supplies and groceries can now be found here. Of course, Amazon itself is comprised of small-scale entrepreneurs and ecommerce businesses. Because of its enormous user base, knowing how to advertise on Amazon could be a great asset to your marketing plan.

To advertise on Amazon, there are a few different options available. The most basic is pay-per-click advertising. These ads will appear as suggestions on the screen– both desktop and mobile (across devices)– when customers are searching and shopping for products similar to yours based on the preselected keywords you’ve chosen. When you advertise on Amazon, the platform allows you to easily monitor your ads’ performance by charting metrics all along the way. These allow you to track which ads are performing well so you can allocate your budget accordingly, one of the key aspects of understanding how to advertise on Amazon successfully.

When you consider whether to advertise on Amazon, you’ll likely come to the realization that it certainly isn’t the most widely utilized of ad channels, but it is still worth considering as part of your marketing strategy as the company has announced in spring 2017 that it has plans to develop this aspect of the platform, expanding the operation by upwards of 30% in terms of funding and resources. One of the most exciting new additions to Amazon advertising, for instance, is the user-friendly header bidding feature. More new and improved marketing options on the site are sure to follow, especially considering how much data the website has collected from users and advertisers alike in the form of product searches.

How to Sell on Amazon

Now that you have an overview of Amazon marketing, you may be wondering whether or not to sell on Amazon. When it comes to figuring out how to sell on Amazon, let’s start by considering the benefits of doing so. One of the main pros is that you are tapping into one of the world’s largest ecommerce networks, and the web traffic your items could have is already quite immense. If you manage to stand out from the crowd when you sell on Amazon, it is not uncommon to see sales spike by an average of 50% compared to other ecommerce platforms. As most ecommerce entrepreneurs can attest, it can take a long time to grow a following and attract customers to your site organically, so using Amazon’s extensive network can be a huge bonus.

That said, if you’re interested in building a brand, this aspect could get lost when you sell on Amazon, as people are not looking to identify with a specific tone or persona as they browse the site and make purchases. This can make it more difficult to stand out from competitors. Therefore, an important part of knowing how to sell on Amazon is counteracting the lack of brand distinction by offering the best customer service you can and going the extra mile to ensure order fulfillment goes smoothly. Amazon Fulfillment allows you the option of sending your inventory in bulk to them so that they can manage the order and fulfillment side of things for you, which can potentially make it easier to sell on Amazon. Amazon is also good for selling products that require repeat purchases, as this offers you the potential to maintain ongoing relationships with customers. Remember that offering great customer service will boost the likelihood of scoring some great customer reviews, which is a huge way to boost the credibility of your shop, and a crucial aspect of knowing how to sell on Amazon properly.

All this in mind, Amazon also does require you to pay seller fees, which usually hover around 15% commission tacked onto each sale. Depending on how well you are able to make sales, this could potentially make your profit margins minimal enough that you’ll want to set up shop elsewhere rather than sell on Amazon. The key is deciding whether the boost in profit from selling on the site surpasses the seller fees. So when you are determining whether or not to sell on Amazon, it is worth taking into account if you plan on selling niche products that are a bit more on the obscure side.

If, after weighing your options, you would like to sell on Amazon, select from one of two selling plans. The Professional is ideal for merchants who are selling a higher volume of goods, as the monthly subscription comes at a fixed price of $39.99. The Individual plan, on the other hand, has no monthly fees, but $0.99 is charged for each item sold. We recommend opting for the Professional. After you make your choice, you can create a profile and start posting your listings! You’ll also need to apply for category approval to sell within the specified product bracket–if necessary– and purchase universal product codes (UPCs) so that you’re integrated into Amazon’s system. Once you have everything set up, it’s worth noting that you can also sync your Amazon seller account with Shopify by adding the Sales Channels section of your Shopify store.

Where to Find Products

Armed with the new knowledge about Amazon marketing and how to sell on Amazon for beginners, perhaps you are now asking yourself where to find products to list on the site. As mentioned above, Amazon itself utilizes a dropshipping model where the platform connects merchants who are looking to sell products with customers in search of a given item. It is an excellent sales channel for individual merchants who also use dropshipping as their ecommerce business model. You can still import your merchandise from your own third party suppliers whilst utilizing Amazon as a sales channel. This is great because it removes the hassles of having to stock and manage merchandise yourself, a major drawback of more traditional ecommerce business models.

There are a few unique considerations to be aware of when selling dropshipped products on Amazon, however. When you post your listings, for example, be sure to select the ‘This product is made by another brand’ option from the ‘Select Product’ dropdown menu. You can post the same product descriptions and product photos to your Amazon listings as you would on your actual Shopify ecommerce store. To mitigate any additional complications of using Amazon as a sales channel whilst selling dropshipped products, we also recommend approaching it primarily as a means of driving website conversions rather than as your primary platform for receiving transactions. Do this by taking advantage of the Amazon ads system. You can also help leave Amazon shoppers wanting more by only posting a select number of products on Amazon and linking back to your site in your listings.

From your Shopify shop, you can use the Oberlo app whose many convenient automation tools will make your dropshipping process much easier. For instance, Oberlo will manage price and inventory changes in addition to automatically fulfilling your orders. Try Oberlo now for free by downloading it from the Shopify app store!

Oberlo is a dropshipping tool. Dropshipping is a low-risk business model that allows you to sell products without bulk ordering. Using the Oberlo app, suppliers will manufacturer, package and ship out products to your customers for you. You can sort items through order volume to see popular items that have proven to sell well. You’re free to test different products to find the best impulse buy products to sell on your store without having to order large quantities in advance.

What makes Oberlo great? Oberlo automates countless aspects of running an online store. You can import product images and copy in one click. You can also do one-click order processing saving you time – an entrepreneur’s most valued resource. You can choose from millions of great products from a variety of niches. You can build a low-maintenance business that allows you more time to work on marketing and customer support so you can scale your store. Pricing can be easily automated and updated with a click of a button. You can track your customers’ orders to answer customer inquiries and ensure deliveries are made promptly. Sorting through the best and fastest delivery methods is easy too!

How does it work?

Oberlo dropshipping is one the easiest ways to start an ecommerce business. It doesn’t require much capital investment. You can even run a profitable business from your couch.

Build an Ecommerce Store

Use this checklist to launch your store with Shopify. No coding required!

Fill Your Store with Products

Browse over 20M products and import them to your store in just a few clicks.

Suppliers Ship Your Orders

After you make a sale, send the orders to your suppliers, so they ship them directly to your customer.

Since the company’s founding in September, 2015, Oberlo merchants have sold over 85 million products around the world.

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